Thoughts from a Fat Old Ladyhttps://thisfatoldlady.com
This is the stuff this fat old lady thinks aboutFri, 18 May 2018 07:16:16 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://secure.gravatar.com/blavatar/dc3bc654928ac3674f6d6ef727d14be6?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.pngThoughts from a Fat Old Ladyhttps://thisfatoldlady.com
THIS FAT OLD LADY KNOWS WHAT YOU’RE UP TO WEIGHT WATCHERS(R)https://thisfatoldlady.com/2018/02/10/this-fat-old-lady-knows-what-youre-up-to-weight-watchersr/
https://thisfatoldlady.com/2018/02/10/this-fat-old-lady-knows-what-youre-up-to-weight-watchersr/#commentsSat, 10 Feb 2018 21:14:34 +0000http://thisfatoldlady.com/?p=929

THE CIGARETTE COMPANIES ALREADY TRIED IT!!!!

Shame on Weight Watchers®.

Shame on you Oprah.

Society has finally started to catch wise to the fact that dieting doesn’t work for the vast majority of people.

Weight Watchers, itself, revealed in an internal memo that it relies on repeat customers for a large part of its revenue. This also reveals that Weight Watchers knows that its customers will be back because DIETS DON’T WORK. Not only do diets not work, weight recycling has been found to be a risk to health

You can call Weight Watchers whatever you want to – but it is still a diet.

You can call it a lifestyle – it is. It is a lifestyle that focuses on restricting what food you consume with the hoped result of weight loss. And that, folks, is a DIET.

Whether you count calories or units or what-ever-the-fuck they are calling it currently, you are measuring and controlling and restricting what you eat FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF LOSING WEIGHT. And again, that is a DIET.

And diets don’t work except for a very small percentage of the population. Diets lead to being fatter for almost all dieters. Within 5 years from dieting almost all dieters will regain all of the weight lost and then some.

Diets can lead to body dissatisfaction, fatphobia, and eating disorders. Eating disorders are the most deadly mental condition out there, and are fueled by body dissatisfaction and fatphobia.

Cigarette companies have been in a battle for years – ever since it became widely known that smoking cigarettes leads to cancer, emphysema and other serious medical conditions which increase mortality risk.

People KNOW smoking is dangerous to your health.

People KNOW (or are starting to know) dieting doesn’t work.

How do you sell a product when the harm it produces is known?

Step # 1 – SELL IT TO THE KIDS!!!

That’s what the cigarette companies did, and that’s what Weight Watchers is doing now.

This summer, Weight Watchers, which has been struggling with dropping revenue, has announced that it will offer free 6-week memberships to kids as young as 13.

Why would they do such a thing? Because they care so much about the children?

Bull shit.

If they cared about the children they would want kids to know that every body is a good body. That eating healthy and getting some physical activity in your life are good for everyone. That health is about health not weight.

But just like the cigarette companies, Weight Watchers wants to get the kids hooked young.

Hook them young, and create a lifelong cycle of dieting.

Hook them young, and let them know that their bodies are not okay as is, that being fat is the worst thing that could happen to you, that if the weight comes back (as it will) that it is YOUR fault!

Hook them young, and they’ll just keep recycling that weight – coming back to Weight Watchers when the weight inevitably comes back, begging for forgiveness and the chance to achieve the almost impossible goal of long term significant weight loss.

Hook them young so they can learn to hate their own bodies and judge the bodies of everyone around them.

Hook them young so they can have a lifetime of having an adversarial relationship with food and their own bodies.

I’m real sorry that Oprah Winfrey hates her own body. I am real sorry that she has tied her value as a human being to what size dress she is wearing today. But that does not give her the right to impose her skewed life of body dissatisfaction on any one, much less kids.

Weight Watchers and Oprah – here’s a big FUCK YOU from this fat old lady.

First, let me be clear, my own husband and our household is not the subject of this blog. My husband is very appreciative of what I do and I try to reciprocate.

The work that is done around the house is often undervalued. This is a very old issue and it continues today. (And I want to say here, that while I am use gender stereotypical pronouns here, this can apply to non-traditional relationships as well.)

Many people seem to think that “work” is only valuable if payment in cash is received.

Also, here’s a little lesson in the difference in language use between men and women.

When a man asks a woman what she’s doing (or has been doing all day), she may reply “nothing” or “not much”. Chances are this is not an accurate description of her day.

When she says she’s doing nothing or not much, she is not mentioning that she got the kids to school, possibly with a lunch, she ran some errands, she cleaned up after the kids and her spouse, she may have done some sweeping up or wiping down of floors, counters, toilets, sinks. She got some laundry done, she loaded the dishwasher (which for many of us, me included, means basically, I washed the dishes and then put them in the dishwasher). She took care of the family pets. She found some recipes to try (to make the family happy with what they are eating). She got the mail, maybe sorted it and dealt with some of it. She dealt with phone calls from school, relatives, etc. She ordered gifts for family, friends. She called to arranged scheduling for the family – appointments, pick-ups and drop-offs. More and more things keep popping into my head. But you get the idea.

In other words, her day of “nothing” involved doing a shit ton of little things. Nothing specific, nothing “major”, just some of the million things that keep a household running smoothly.

Why does she say she did nothing or not much? Because this stuff is so engrained that it doesn’t seem like anything to her. It needs to get done. She got it done. It barely registers.

So when someone dismisses what she does or implies that it is not enough , it hurts. She may not even know why it hurts so much.

And that is a shame because it means she kind of doesn’t appreciate and recognize everything she is doing.

When I was first out on my own, I was doing some ironing, and I thought, “God, I hate doing ironing.” And then it occurred to me that my mom did my ironing for me for years and years and I never even thanked her. Not only had I not thanked her, I had not even thought twice about it. How much does someone love you to do something as awful as your ironing for you? I called her right then. I was fortunate enough to come to this realization while she was still alive.

If you do housework. I encourage you to sit down and think about how much you do for yourself and those you love. Really think about it. If it helps, make a list. Just make a list of what you do in one day. And then acknowledge and appreciate all of these things because it is amazing what you do.

And no chastising yourself because the house isn’t spotless or you didn’t get some things done from your list. Face it – it’s never going to be done and it’s never going to be perfect. That’s the nature of housework.

Some folks love housework and are able to maintain at least a semblance of perfection. Pin a rose on them. Most of us, me included, hate doing housework, and I think it’s amazing that we do things that we HATE just to make life a little more pleasant for ourselves and those around us.

We need to start valuing what we do and, even more importantly, valuing ourselves for doing these things – no matter if you are doing these things for yourself or for others.

And if anyone dares call you lazy or otherwise dismisses what you do, tell them to SHUT THE FUCK UP – or if you are too nice – refer them to me, and I’ll handle it. It’ll be my pleasure. It’s “nothing”.

]]>https://thisfatoldlady.com/2018/01/29/this-fat-old-lady-is-doing-nothing/feed/1tanteterrihouseworkTHIS FAT OLD LADY BELIEVES IN BETTER LIVING THROUGH CHEMISTRY (Or what a difference a pill makes)https://thisfatoldlady.com/2017/09/07/this-fat-old-lady-believes-in-better-living-through-chemistry-or-what-a-difference-a-pill-makes/
https://thisfatoldlady.com/2017/09/07/this-fat-old-lady-believes-in-better-living-through-chemistry-or-what-a-difference-a-pill-makes/#respondThu, 07 Sep 2017 15:45:42 +0000http://thisfatoldlady.com/?p=921

My fat old lady ass has been at half-mast for quite a while now; and it was getting really bad during and after this last heatwave.

All I wanted to do was sleep. And I would fall asleep lying in bed and reading or sitting in front of my computer.

And all that sleep wasn’t doing me a bit of good. I was still tired, tired, tired.

Besides blaming it on the heatwave, as you may know, I have chronic depression; and this all-encompassing fatigue is one of the symptoms, and it can creep up on you. One day, you think you’re just tired; next day, you just think you’re being lazy; and on and on with the excuses and rationalizations.

What’s a fat old lady to do?

Well, it so happens, there’s a pill for that.

And I am well acquainted with this pill. I used to take it regularly, but then decided I didn’t need it, so I stopped. And then I forgot about it.

But thankfully, my fat old lady brain squeezed out the bit of information I needed yesterday morning.

Modafinil.

To me, this is the wonder drug. Developed for people with narcolepsy, it gives your brain a boost of alertness and clears the dust bunnies out of the old brain pan.

So I e-mailed my doctor and asked to have this put back on my list of prescriptions, and I found I even had a few pills left. I took half of a pill and — ta dah!!!

I’m back.

]]>https://thisfatoldlady.com/2017/09/07/this-fat-old-lady-believes-in-better-living-through-chemistry-or-what-a-difference-a-pill-makes/feed/0tanteterriBackTHIS FAT OLD LADY IS HOT – AND NOT IN THE GOOD WAYhttps://thisfatoldlady.com/2017/08/11/this-fat-old-lady-is-hot-and-not-in-the-good-way/
https://thisfatoldlady.com/2017/08/11/this-fat-old-lady-is-hot-and-not-in-the-good-way/#commentsFri, 11 Aug 2017 17:56:51 +0000http://thisfatoldlady.com/?p=915

Do not tell me global warming is not real or “questionable”. I have now lived in San Jose for over 20 years and summers never used to be this hot. You’d get a few days in a row of really hot weather a few times each summer and that would be it. Now it is so fucking hot most of the time and we do not have air conditioning, because you didn’t need air conditioning to get through a few really hot days. You parked your ass in front of a fan and dealt with it, knowing the heat would soon move on.

Having said this, this past week has been not too bad heat-wise. So why, when I walked into the den (or the “woman cave” as my husband calls it) did it feel so over-the-top hot? It’s not like the room has glass walls and ceiling. In fact, it’s not much in the direct sun thanks to the big old tree that is next to our house.

Ugh.

You see, the trouble with being hot is you can only take off so many clothes. When you’re cold you can always put some more on.

But this seemed unnaturally hot.

Had the devil finally come to seek his due? Had a portal to hell opened up in my woman cave? (Nah – no teens living here, and my understanding from movies is that a portal requires at least one stupid teen and his/her equally stupid friends to achieve this).

Well, last night, as the den refused to cool off, I finally discovered the problem.

Once again, one of our enterprising kitties had turned the heat on (we have wall radiators) – FULL BLAST. This would take some determination on the part of the furry fart-bag to accomplish.

I guess temps (in and out of the house) of over 80 degrees was just not sufficient for somebody’s delicate constitution.

Fucking cats.

Oh, and since my husband’s closet has been torn up from the remediation from the leak in his bathroom, the futon – which blocks access to the heater, is piled with clothing (with hangars) and bedding.

Picture if you will, a fat old lady trying to mount a mound of clothes (and hangars – ow, ow, ow) and bedding in order to get to the fucking control.

Every year, we get June bugs. Lots of them. It’s gross, but they stay on their side of the screen and we stay on our side.

For some reason, this year we have July/August bugs; and somehow, one got through to the wrong side of the screen.

Crafty little fucker.

Our orange tabby Murphy, was aware of this trespass, and took it upon himself to make his new friend welcome – by playing with it.

By the time I was aware, the bug was pretty much grounded, but was still trying gamely to get away from his buddy Murphy. Even when Murphy would put his buddy in his mouth and try to dine on him – the bug would get out, land on the floor, and try to fly away.

Instead, Murphy disappears down the hall with his new friend – to the bedroom.

I decided I would just rather not know. Bad, bad choice.

Because when I eventually went into the bedroom. There was Murphy on the bed, digging around in the sheets and covers – trying desperately to find something he apparently has misplaced.

Fuck me.

So I shake out all of the bedding – including the pillows.

No bug.

Of course, I can see there is no bug; but my mind is telling me – there was a bug, and unless you can confirm the whereabouts of the missing bug, there is still a bug.

Needless to say, I had a very hard time falling asleep, in the dark, where there was a bug possibility.

Stupid cat.

]]>https://thisfatoldlady.com/2017/08/01/this-fat-old-lady-is-ready-for-her-cat-fur-collar/feed/0tanteterribugTHIS FAT OLD LADY IS PSYCHIC AND HER CAT IS AN IDIOThttps://thisfatoldlady.com/2017/07/29/this-fat-old-lady-is-psychic-and-her-cat-is-an-idiot/
https://thisfatoldlady.com/2017/07/29/this-fat-old-lady-is-psychic-and-her-cat-is-an-idiot/#respondSat, 29 Jul 2017 03:23:40 +0000http://thisfatoldlady.com/?p=895

vs.

Do you ever have those flashes about something bad happening just before it happens? Something that has never happened before, and yet, you can picture it happening – and then it is part of your reality?

Kind of spooky, huh?

Well, I’m petting our orange cat Murphy.

Murphy is lying on a kitchen chair.

Said chair has a traditional vertical spindle back.

Can you predict what happened as a stupid cat starts lolling around and rubbing his head enthusiastically against the spindles?

Oh, yeah, it happened.

Head stuck between the spindles.

Really stuck, because the spindles spread out as they go up and get narrower at the bottom. So of course, trying to get loose he lays flat and just tries to pull.

Lucky for Murphy, I was right there and got him loose immediately.

That did not stop Murphy from freaking the hell out; and when Murphy gets really really scared, he gets the dry heaves – cat style dry heaves. You know that gut wrenching “HNNNUH” like he’s trying to bring up a hair ball the size of Kansas.

I hate to admit it, but this isn’t all that unusual for me. When it comes to my hair, I’m not much of a girly-girl. I don’t know what to do with it, so I want it in a style that I can get by with the least amount of effort and still not have people point and scream.

I couldn’t cut my hair during 1776 – I needed the long white(ish) hair to play Ben.

I could’ve cut my hair during Always Patsy Cline, but I was dealing with a wig, and really short hair can be an issue with a wig – nothing to pin the wig to.

Shows done. Haircut got.

And I love it. I think it’s adorable, and I don’t have to do dick – wash it, comb it behind my ears and it gets just the right curl to it. Truthfully, my haircut is the Becky Jackson (Glee reference) haircut (and I love Becky’s hair).

So I have been saying that once I got my haircut I was going to dye it pink. I got L’Oreal Paris Feria Smokey (Pastel) Pink.

And I am terrified to use it.

Why?

I’ve never had a problem with L’Oreal hairdye and the Feria dyes are not usually really long lasting – they fade.

If it comes out horrible, I can just dye it another color.

I guess in my heart of hearts, I’m thinking I’m too fucking old for this.

It’s true. I have no idea how it happened. I went to McDonalds to pick up dinner for us, and I didn’t order fries!

I didn’t even think about ordering fries.

It did not even occur to me that I had been to McDonalds and left without ordering fries until I got home and was putting my order in one bag and my husband’s order in his bag, when suddenly, I realized ….

And basically, they looked at 11,000 studies and then picked 37 studies to focus on. Depending on the criteria of choosing those 37 studies this could be a big cherry picking warning; but that doesn’t worry me so much because the results are a big no-duh to me.

Evidence from [randomized control trials (RCTs)] does not clearly support the intended benefits of nonnutritive sweeteners for weight management, and observational data suggest that routine intake of nonnutritive sweeteners may be associated with increased BMI and cardiometabolic risk.

Well, no shit Sherlock.

But which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Fat people have been encouraged for lo these many years to reduce calories. So we started using artificial sweeteners. Fat people are encouraged to diet (and as a part of dieting, use artificial sweeteners). Being fat is associated with diabetes and various cardiometabolic risks.

Dieting makes you fatter. Being fatter puts you at a greater risk for certain health conditions (and being fatter, also gives you a better chance of living longer with many of these health conditions than a non-fat person with the same condition).

This is a real clear case of correlation does not equal causation.

Is something going on? Who the fuck knows. Beyond what we already know about fatness and dieting? Not me, and not these researchers.

All we know is artificial sweeteners are used to make things taste sweet without a lot of calories, and people use them.

As for me, y’all know I’m so sweet I just have to dip my little finger into my coffee to sweeten it up!

]]>https://thisfatoldlady.com/2017/07/22/this-fat-old-lady-is-sweet-enough-all-by-herself/feed/0tanteterridih photoTHIS FAT OLD LADY LEARNS IT PAYS TO BITCH AND TO BE A BITCHhttps://thisfatoldlady.com/2017/07/21/this-fat-old-lady-learns-it-pays-to-bitch-and-to-be-a-bitch/
https://thisfatoldlady.com/2017/07/21/this-fat-old-lady-learns-it-pays-to-bitch-and-to-be-a-bitch/#commentsFri, 21 Jul 2017 23:51:19 +0000http://thisfatoldlady.com/?p=858

I have sleep apnea. I was diagnosed 6 years ago. I use a CPAP. I’ve used it for 6 years.

Me and my CPAP are very happy together.

Until last night, when it suddenly died – as in blinking the message “Needs Service” and refusing to turn on – at all. On a Thursday night, which means I had one day to replace it with a working CPAP before the weekend when I wouldn’t expect to be able to get much of anything done.

No problem. My first CPAP started making a lot of noise. I took it to Kaiser and they handed me a different one.

Now, I’m not completely stupid. I went online first to see what Kaiser had to say. What Kaiser had to say was —- nothing. I could read about what a CPAP is – but I already know that. Ditto sleep apnea. What I couldn’t find was a number to the Pulmonary/Sleep Medicine Unit that I know exists at the San Jose Kaiser campus.

So in the morning, off I toddle my big fat old lady butt to San Jose Kaiser. I go to the front (check-in) desk and she tells me to see the people at Station 1. More toddling. I tell this lady, I have a dead CPAP machine. She asks how long I’ve had my machine. I say, years and years, and she hands me a slip of paper and tells me to call Apria (which is a medical equipment supplier for Kaiser).

Now, I’ve dealt with Apria before. They are okay. You call them, order your CPAP supplies, and they mail them to you.

So I say to the lady, so I guess it’s okay with Kaiser if I just die in my sleep? And she tells me to deal with Apria. They have a San Jose office, if they can’t fix the machine maybe I can get a new one from them.

Oh-kay.

I go home and I call Apria. They tell me the machine is no longer under warranty (no big surprise, as stated, I’ve had it for years and years); and Apria needs a new prescription before they can replace my CPAP. No, they don’t know who is supposed to issue this prescription.

Oh-kay.

Next, I e-mail my primary physician, asking her if she knows if she is supposed to do the prescription or if she can tell me who …?

Then I call Kaiser DME (Durable Medical Equipment) number and I actually get someone helpful! Holy crap! That was a pleasant surprise. She told me I needed to contact the Sleep Medicine unit (you know, where I was this morning) and make an appointment. And she even gave me the phone number. Whoo-hoo.

I call the Sleep Medicine unit. I am told I have not been seen by them for 6 years (like it was my fault). Well, nobody asked to see me and me and my CPAP were doing just fine up until last night. The first appointment they have is July 28 (a week from today). Well, better than never, I guess.

Then my primary calls and she tells me she has called Sleep Medicine and they don’t have anything in appointments for the whole month of August. I explain, I have an appointment for July 28, but I’m not happy because:

I have a diagnosed chronic condition that is treated with medical equipment. I am conscientious about using this equipment. The equipment, through no fault of mine, has ceased to work. Kaiser now wants me to go for a week with no treatment. I don’t think that is acceptable.

My doctor agreed, and said she would call in the afternoon and tell them to call me with the first cancellation.

Meanwhile, I go online and file a complaint with Kaiser. I explain what has happened and I explain that Kaiser should have some kind of procedure, protocol, policy in place for this situation.

Then things start to happen.

Kaiser calls, they have a cancellation can I get there in ½ an hour. I think they were a little surprised when I said yes. Called work, explained, drove (only mostly like a maniac) to Kaiser, and got there 10 minutes before the appointment! Saw a supervisor, who took the little SIM-kind-of card from my old machine and ran it through their computers; went and got me a brand new CPAP. Showed me how this one works, and how to register online so Kaiser can follow my progress. I gave them my poor dead (but much loved) CPAP.

Now was that so fucking hard?

And then I got a call from a Kaiser nurse asking if my complaint had been resolved. I explained, yes, for me personally the problem was resolved, after a lot of people were put to a lot of trouble, and I feel the only reason it was resolved is because: